Silage, as known in the art is fermented fibrous material including but not limited to hay, alfalfa or corn. Accordingly the unfermented fibrous material may be referred to as pre-silage. The term hay generally refers to dried fibrous material having a substantially lower moisture content (less than about 15 wt %) than pre-silage. Silage is used as feed for livestock, especially cattle. Because of the high moisture content of the silage (at least about 30 wt %), it is more nutritious than hay. However, the higher moisture content of silage is also more conducive to spoilage.
Accordingly, silage is stored in silo, or more recently in plastic bags. The plastic bags are typically dual walled plastic and are prefolded to expand upon filling. A filled bag is about 100-150 ft. long and about 6-8 ft. in diameter. Heretofore, there have been two methods of placing pre-silage into the bags. One method is to use a loader by simply driving the loader toward the mouth of the bag and placing a bale of pre-silage into the bag. Of course, the first bale will contact the back of the bag and as the loader advances the bale forward, the plastic bag unfolds until the bale is completely surrounded of five sides by the plastic bag. The bale is then set down inside the bag and rests on the ground. This procedure is repeated until the bag is fully extended. A disadvantage of this procedure is that the bales are necessarily smaller than the inside dimensions of the bag. The bales must be smaller than the inside dimensions of the bag so that there is room for the loader to maneuver the bale into the bag. Consequently, there is substantial air space within the bag between the bale and the bag that is detrimental for two reasons; (1) the air combines with the moisture and aerobic bacteria to produce spoilage, and (2) the plastic bag is flaccid permitting wind to whip the loose sides and tear them and lose the integrity of the bag.
Another method of filling the bag is to first chop the pre-silage then put the chopped pre-silage into the bag. The chopped pre-silage fills the bag, reducing air space and producing a tighter bag, but at great expense of labor and equipment to accomplish the chopping.
Hence, there is a need in the silage industry for a method and apparatus for placing pre-silage into a plastic bag in a manner that more completely fills the bag but with less expense and labor of chopping.